Cabinet Repair near you

Most cabinet complaints come down to hardware and the material it's screwed into. Particleboard and MDF hold screws well at first but less so after years of doors swinging and drawers being yanked, so a lasting repair often means rebuilding the screw holes, not just tightening the screws.

The sink base takes more abuse than any other cabinet. A drip from the trap, a supply line or the faucet, or water seeping past the sink rim, can soak the cabinet floor for months before anyone notices. Particleboard and MDF swell and crumble when wet and don't shrink back once dry, so the damage stays after the leak is gone.

The order matters. Have a plumber find and fix the leak first; our plumbing repair page covers the usual culprits. Then dry the cabinet completely: Health Canada notes that mould can begin to grow within 48 hours where there's excess moisture, and that it will come back unless the source of the moisture is fixed.

Once everything is dry, a carpenter can usually cut out the damaged cabinet floor and fit a new panel supported on cleats inside the box. Damaged sides or backs can be patched or partly replaced as long as the face frame and the supports under the countertop are sound. The plumber may need to disconnect the trap and supply lines to give the carpenter room, then reconnect them afterwards.

Surface films and veneers let go for predictable reasons. Thermofoil, a vinyl film heat-formed over fibreboard, loosens and bubbles near the oven, the toaster or a kettle, and it's the most common failure people ask about. Wood veneer lifts at the edges when water gets underneath or the original glue gives up, and laminate and edge banding peel where they're splashed or knocked.

Small lifted edges of veneer or laminate can often be reglued and clamped. Thermofoil that has shrunk or bubbled rarely goes back down for good, so the usual fix is a replacement door made to match, or new doors throughout if the style is discontinued, with a heat shield added beside the range. Replacement doors and panels with an MDF or particleboard core should meet Canada's Formaldehyde Emissions from Composite Wood Products Regulations, which require compliant products to be labelled, so ask the supplier to confirm.

An upper cabinet that has started to tilt forward, or a gap opening between its top and the wall, needs attention right away. A loaded upper cabinet is heavy and is held up only by its fasteners, so empty it, stop using it and have a carpenter check how it was hung. Uppers should be screwed through their mounting rails into studs or solid blocking, never held by drywall alone.

Face frames can also work loose from the boxes, especially near the sink and dishwasher where moisture has weakened the glue. They're usually reglued and refastened, and a careful carpenter checks that the boxes are still screwed to each other and to the wall before closing up. A base cabinet that rocks or has dropped at one end often points to a damaged cabinet floor or a failed leveller rather than the frame itself.

A repair only disappears if the finish matches, and cabinets change with age and light. Wood darkens or ambers, painted finishes can yellow, and doors that get sun or constant handling won't match the ones inside a pantry.

The boxes decide. If they're dry, square and firmly attached, repairing doors, drawers and hardware extends their life with far less disruption than new cabinets.